Seaweed Food Aquarium Feeder

ABSTRACT

A seaweed aquarium feeder allows fish to feed on seaweed aquarium food while preventing escape of the food into the aquarium water. The feeder includes a base and hinged lid which closes against the base. The lid includes a recessed seaweed holding windowed area which fits over a protruding area of the base. The food is captured between the recessed seaweed holding windowed area of the lid and the protruding area of the base. Windows in the recessed seaweed holding windowed area allow the fish access to the food. A magnet pocket in the base holds a first magnet the feeder is held against an aquarium wall by cooperation of the first magnet with a second magnet outside the aquarium.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the priority of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 62/111,086 filed Feb. 2, 2015, which application isincorporated in its entirety herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to aquarium feeders and in particular to aseaweed food aquarium feeder.

A preferred aquarium food for some varieties of fish is seaweed. Manyfresh and marine fish are herbivores and require constant algae grazingin order to stay healthy and thrive in aquariums. Many of these fish canbe large that grow up to 12″ in length have voracious eating habits.These fish require a constant supply of seaweed opposed to quickfeedings daily.

Nori seaweed is a preferred seaweed aquarium food but presents manyproblems in the feeding application. The Nori seaweed is processed intothin, typical 4 inch by 3.5 inch sheets which are very easy to tear. TheNori seaweed is generally inserted into a clip with a suction cup ormagnet to stay in a stationary spot for the fish to feed. Unfortunately,the clips provide only one point of contact and are generally unable tohold the Nori seaweed tightly enough to prevent fish from tearing theNori seaweed near the base of the clip. Further, constant water contactand currents also tends to rip and tear the Nori seaweed apart. Thesmall pieces of the Nori seaweed then circulate through the aquariumuntil they are drawn into a filter intake clogging the filter.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,012 discloses a feeding device for aquariums. Thedevice of the '012 patent includes mesh walls containing food. The meshwalls lack structure to clamp or hold the food, and fish may tear awayportions of the food.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses the above and other needs by providing aseaweed aquarium feeder which allows fish to feed on seaweed aquariumfood while preventing escape of the food into the aquarium water. Thefeeder includes a base and hinged lid which closes against the base. Thelid includes a recessed seaweed holding windowed area which fits over aprotruding area of the base. The food is captured between the recessedseaweed holding windowed area of the lid and the protruding area of thebase. Windows in the recessed seaweed holding windowed area allow thefish access to the food. A magnet pocket in the base holds a firstmagnet the feeder is held against an aquarium wall by cooperation of thefirst magnet with a second magnet outside the aquarium.

In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, there isprovided a seaweed feeder. The seaweed feeder solves common seaweedfeeding issues holding a folded sheet of seaweed. The seaweed feederincludes a base having a protruding area having a solid back. A lidincludes a matching area that fits over the protruding area to sandwichthe seaweed, and windows in the lid allow aquarium fish limited accessto the seaweed for slow grazing. The entire seaweed portion is containedin the feeder preventing large pieces of the seaweed sheet from beingtorn by the fish or currents in the water, and promotes all day feeding.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided aseaweed feeder including a lid having small windows limiting exposure ofseaweed sheets. The windows are preferably between 6 mm and 14 mm longand between 6 mm and 16 mm wide and the lid acts as a clamp sandwichingthe seaweed sheet between the lid and solid base preventing or limitingthe seaweed sheet from being ripping and pulled apart by large fish.

In accordance with still another aspect of the invention, there isprovided a seaweed feeder magnetically held in the aquarium. A magnetresides in a magnet recess in the base, and an aquarium wall issandwiched between the magnet and a cooperating external magnet to holdthe seaweed feeder in a vertical or horizontal position, or anywherebetween vertical and horizontal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will be more apparent from the following more particulardescription thereof, presented in conjunction with the followingdrawings wherein:

FIG. 1 shows an aquarium with three improved aquarium feeders accordingto the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of a seaweed feeder according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 shows a top view of the seaweed feeder according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 4A shows a cross-sectional view of the seaweed feeder according tothe present invention taken along line 20-20 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 4B shows a cross-sectional view of the seaweed feeder according tothe present invention with a closed cover.

FIG. 5 shows the seaweed feeder according to the present inventioncapturing a sheet of seaweed.

FIG. 6 shows a top view of the seaweed feeder according to the presentinvention containing a sheet of seaweed.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding componentsthroughout the several views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following description is of the best mode presently contemplated forcarrying out the invention. This description is not to be taken in alimiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of describing one ormore preferred embodiments of the invention. The scope of the inventionshould be determined with reference to the claims.

Where the terms “about” or “generally” are associated with an element ofthe invention, it is intended to describe a feature's appearance to thehuman eye or human perception, and not a precise measurement.

An aquarium 10 with an improved aquarium feeder 60 according to thepresent invention is shown in FIG. 1. The seaweed feeder 60 is heldagainst an aquarium wall and holds seaweed 16 accessible to fish.

A perspective view of a seaweed feeder 60 is shown in FIG. 2, a top viewof the seaweed feeder 60 is shown in FIG. 3, a cross-sectional view ofthe seaweed feeder 60 taken along line 20-20 of FIG. 3 is shown in FIG.4A, and a cross-sectional view of the seaweed feeder 60 with a closedcover is shown in FIG. 4B. The seaweed feeder 60 includes a base 66having a generally rectangular (may have rounded edges and corners)protruding platform 72 and a magnet pocket 68. The protruding area 72preferably has a solid face 73 (i.e., no openings). A lid 62 isconnected to the base 66 by a hinge 64. The lid 62 further includes a agenerally rectangular recessed windowed area 74 having an interferencefit into the protruding area 72, and a multiplicity of windows 70, forexample, between 12 and 40 windows 70 in between six and ten rows andtwo and four columns and preferably 24 windows 70 in eight rows andthree columns.

The seaweed feeder 60 has an overall length L1 of preferably 313 mm. Thebase 66 has a length L2 of preferably about 179 mm, and the lid 62 has alength L3 of preferably about 134 mm. The base 66 and lid 62 preferablyhave a width W1 of preferably about 68 mm. The base 66 has a height H3of preferably between 7 mm and 10 mm and more preferably about 7.8 mmand the lid 62 has a height H4 of preferably between 7 mm and 10 mm andmore preferably about 7.5 mm. The windows have a length L4 of preferablybetween 6 mm and 14 mm and more preferably about 10 mm, and a width W2of preferably between 6 mm and 16 mm and more preferably about 12 mm.When the lid 62 is closed, a gap G is created between the recessedwindowed area 74 and the protruding area 72 for the seaweed food 16. Thegap G may vary and conforms to the thickness of the seaweed sheet 16(see FIG. 5).

The seaweed feeder 60 is shown capturing a sheet of seaweed 16 betweenthe base 66 and lid 62 in FIG. 5 and a top view of the seaweed feeder 60is shown closed and containing the sheet of seaweed 16 in FIG. 6. Amagnet 78 a resides in the magnet pocket 68 (see FIG. 2), and theseaweed feeder 60 may be held to the aquarium 10 wall (see FIG. 10) by acooperating magnet 78 b the exterior of the aquarium.

The seaweed feeder 60 is preferably made from plastic, and morepreferably from Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) or Acrylonitrile ButadieneStyrene (ABS) and most preferably from ABS.

While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means ofspecific embodiments and applications thereof, numerous modificationsand variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention set forth in the claims.

I claim:
 1. A seaweed feeder, comprising: a base including a generallyrectangular protruding platform; a lid hingedly attached to the base andincluding a recessed seaweed holding windowed area having a profileproviding an interference fit to the rectangular protruding platform ofthe base, the windowed area including a multiplicity of windowstherethrough; and the lid rotatable to position the recessed seaweedholding windowed area of the lid over the rectangular protrudingplatform of the base creating a gap to contain the seaweed.
 2. Theseaweed feeder of claim 1, wherein the windows have a length L4 between6 mm and 14 mm and a width W2 between 6 mm and 16 mm.
 3. The seaweedfeeder of claim 1, wherein the length L4 is about 10 mm and a width W2about 12 mm.
 4. The seaweed feeder of claim 2, wherein the multiplicityof windows comprises six and ten rows and between two and four columnsof the windows.
 5. The seaweed feeder of claim 4, wherein themultiplicity of windows comprises eight rows and three columns of thewindows.
 6. The seaweed feeder of claim 4, wherein the lid is hingedlyattached to the base.
 7. The seaweed feeder of claim 1, wherein the basefurther includes a magnet pocket containing a first magnet, and a secondmagnet cooperates with the first magnet to sandwich an aquarium wall tohold the seaweed feeder in place in an aquarium.
 8. The seaweed feederof claim 1, wherein the seaweed feeder is made from AcrylonitrileButadiene Styrene (ABS).
 9. The seaweed feeder of claim 1, whereingenerally rectangular protruding platform has a solid face
 10. A seaweedfeeder residing in an aquarium, comprising: the aquarium includingaquarium walls; the seaweed feeder including: a base including: agenerally rectangular protruding platform; and magnet pocket containinga first magnet; a lid attached to the base by a hinge and including agenerally rectangular, recessed seaweed holding windowed area having aprofile providing an interference fit over the platform of the base, therecessed seaweed holding windowed area including between six and tenrows and between two and four columns of windows therethrough, thewindows between 6 mm and 14 mm long and between 6 mm and 16 mm wide; thelid is rotatable about the hinge to position the recessed seaweedholding windowed area of the lid over the platform of the base creatinga gap to contain the seaweed; and a second magnet cooperating with thefirst magnet holding the seaweed feeder against one of the aquariumwalls.
 11. A seaweed feeder, comprising: a base including: a generallyrectangular protruding platform having a solid face; and magnet pocketcontaining a first magnet; a lid attached to the base by a hinge andincluding a recessed generally rectangular seaweed holding windowed areahaving a profile providing an interference fit over the platform of thebase, the recessed seaweed holding windowed area including eight rowsand three columns of windows therethrough, the windows 10 mm long and 12mm wide; the lid is rotatable about the hinge to position the recessedseaweed holding windowed area of the lid over the platform of the basecreating a gap to contain the seaweed; and a second magnet cooperatingwith the first magnet holding the seaweed feeder against an aquariumwall.